F1 returns this week end !
 

Here's hoping for closer races between Mercedes and the others. Actually I think if Mercedes was out, this year would be very very close among the rest.

On a side note, here's a picture recently Tweeted by Hamilton of himself... No wonder Rosberg beat him a few times last year, must have hurt !

http://www.erikaslist.com/Pictures/ham.jpg

Not your regular F1 driver...

This year I'm supporting Kova and Grosjean (good talent, lesser cars) and Ricciardo because he's really hard to dislike !

Did you see Ricciardo on Top Gear?

Someone in the audience asked him what the back of Hamilton's car looked like. He flipped the guy off with his huge grin. I don't know how he pulls it off, but he even comes off as likeable when he is literally telling someone to f*** off.

Good stuff

<iframe width="853" height="480" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/hIPcWmAIqsk" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Looking forward to the start of the season

Now we know what the back of Hamilton and the back of his car look like, though I could have done without the first. I posted it to spread the horror ;-)

Yeah, Ricciardo is really hard to dislike. Plus I really enjoy how he trounced Vettel last year. Here's hoping Kimi does the same if the new car is more to his liking. I'd love to see Lotus come back too, now that they lost the tusks and got a Merc engine.

He's a wild card to me. Not sure if he's still really into it anymore, I sure hope he is. I would be great to see him trounce Seb this season.

I'm thrilled that the season finally is about to begin. It's been a long, dry spell.

But here's the mystery, at least to me: With all the time it's had to prepare, how can Honda have gotten things so wrong? (Or at least it appears they have and are quite unprepared. I guess we'll see after this weekend.)

I'm hoping that is because they tried to leapfrog the competition, and when they get it going, they will be super competitive. Not that I am a huge fan of theirs, I just want someone to take the fight to Mercedes !!! Boulier was quoted as saying the car's aero was good and he was impressed all the honda bits fit under those tight skirts without overheating. I think /hope once they resolve the niggles, the car will be up there. They certainly have 2 good drivers !

+1

Good lookin' VDUB
 

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1426105258.jpg

Plus a couple of tattoo free drivers

Couldn't read Ham's tatoo
 

So looked it uphttp://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1426105657.jpg

Looking forward to the new season. Still plotting a way to get Sky in the US...

Nasty tattoo...

Any way, what about the Sauber drama with Giedo van der Garde successfully suing to get his set back. I wonder how the team will deal with him. I am sure the atmosphere will be jovial.

Time table
 

This is my best guess as to tv time: TSN Canada eastern time

Quali LIve 0155 Saturday and tape @ 1055 Sat eastern time on TSN

Race Live 0055 Sunday and tape @ 0955 Sunday " " " "

Hope this is right, and hope someone else confirms this.

I would like to see Kimi and Ferrari do well this year. Vettel is a question mark. He seems to be fitting in with the team but doesn't display much confidence in the car for the early part of the season. Formula 1® - The Official F1® Website - Interviews - Sebastian Vettel Q&A: Mercedes the team to beat If he gets comfortable with the car, I think he will be closer to the front this year.

Honda could surprise us all. Alonso is, as far as I am concerned, the best driver in the field. He always seems to get the most out of any car he is put in. Both Kimi and Vettel seem to struggle if the car doesn't suit their style. Fred just adjusts, which is the sign of a true champion. Alonso in a McLaren Honda could be the season winning combo.

Gotta laugh at F1s inability to promote itself... Scandals, Bernie's corruption, engine sound, Alonso's mysterious accident, and now.... Sauber has 3 drivers and 2 cars ;-)

The courts sided with Guido the reserve driver twice and now they must let him drive (assuming he gets his superlicence renewed in time). That means Sauber will lose $ from one of its current pay drivers - and they are already running on advance revenue $ from Bernie or they would not have made the grid... I don't see them lasting another season - kinda funny too that the team manager is a lawyer and she got stuck like that by a contractual deal !

On the flip side, Indycars now have so much cascading downforce they look like venetian blinds !

Bring on LeMans with real cars !

Alonso is very toxic. He's had managers that are very good at puffing up opinion of him.

I am ecstatic to see him gone from Ferrari.

He's excellent at close quarters driving that is for sure. He's also excellent at splitting up a team.

Alonso is a racer, pure and simple.

I think Honda will get the engine right, probably this season. I also think the McLaren has shown promise underneath the low power engine runs. It's true underlying speed is at least top 5, which should put them in the running for podiums.

What is stunning to me is Ferrari's apparent improvement, and the fact that Williams has retained it's position ahead of the best of the rest. How on Earth do they manage that with their budget? RBR, Ferrari, and McLaren certainly have more cash to spend. Vast amounts more cash. When you look at Renault and Honda's problems, to think that Ferrari have come so far so fast is really impressive to me.

dont want to be a downer
 

We all know just like Nascar the sport is on life support. With the loss of the 3 car to Nascar and no more Shumi. To much safety no refueling and a bunch of p---y driving the cars goodnight. I have been a fan of Racing for over 40 years the new kids didnt come up earning it. I still lover it but when u grow up watching Richie Evans, Mario, Emmerson,Shumi,Geoff Bodine to name a few these guys cant hold a candle Sorry to bash but the trueth hurts.

Watching Practice 1: thank goodness the cars are much better looking!
Not as nice as F1s of old but not laughter inducing with last year's stupid noses.
The Mercedes is almost pretty!

Well, the sound. Last year, heard the cars for the first time....sounded like Cesnas. Phhhhthttttt. A grid of F1 should sound the Gates of Hell itself have opened, unearthly and shattering loud.

Hope they've fixed that for this year.

They're talking about it. Maybe next year.

JR

Eh, no. Same as last year really. From the TV anyway, I hear that in person it's actually OK. Not sure how much you can do using a turbo and lower revs anyway. Good to hear Hobbs, Matchette and Buxton again....I still miss Varsha's voice !

I also like Varsha but more for his insight. He usually was able to keep everyone on the same page. Diffey, don't like his style that much. He gets too excited too fast. He also tries to control the broadcast and usually jumps on top of what the others are saying. Steve Matchett is an ace in the pocket. His knowledge of the cars is astounding. Buxton is good with getting the dirt. Hobbs is quick with a jab (think he once referred to Boris Said as "that famous Egyptian driver" during an ALMS race) and has his own unique vocabulary (klag.)

I have watched F1 since the early 90's and have suffered through Derek Daly and John Watson. Both Daly and Watson were very negative. Varsha, Hobbs and Matchett were a good team. Diffy just doesn't seem to fit in the mix.

Would like to see Dave Despain give it a go on F1 as an announcer. He was good on Supercross and Windtunnel. Know he is doing something on another network, but think he would be a good straight man for F1 coverage instead of Diffey.

There was a race in 2007 or 2008 where Massa was told that Kimi was faster. Massa basically pulled to the side of the track and all but stopped to let Kimi by. Hobbs commentated it like they were fighting viciously for position. A new viewer wouldn't have gotten the implied sarcasm.

LOL, it seems very odd that you would reply "I hear that in person it's actually OK" when I just told you, first hand, its not.

The best sounding car at the track this weekend was the two seater. Dull race.

Mercedes 1-2 and Ferrari struggling for 3rd. Sounds familiar?

Oh, and Maldonado crashing out...

Man, if it's a repeat of Merc domination by that kind of margin again this year, I'm going to be tempted skip a few race watching parties (we had 186 watching live for the season opener).

And I'm a Hamilton fan.

I just hate to see so much imbalance between teams.